HIS 272H,
CULTURAL INTERACTIONS: JAPAN

ACCELERATING MODERNIZATION II
MONDAY, MARCH 6, 2006

In a well-organized and effectively structured ten–to–fifteen minute oral presentation, examine the process through which a specific element of Western civilization is integrated into modern Japanese life over the course of the Meiji Period (1868 – 1912) in Japanese history. The presentation will be evaluated on the strength of its underlying research and its analytical and evaluative insights.

PLEASE INFORM THE INSTRUCTOR OF YOUR CHOSEN TOPIC AND APPROACH NO LATER THAN WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2006. (SO AS TO AVOID DUPLICATION OF PRESENTATION CONTENT -- "FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED" WILL PREVAIL IN THE ASSIGNMENT PROCESS, SO GET YOUR CHOICES IN EARLY!)

The place to begin your exploration is with a copy of George Sansom’s The Western World and Japan, a Study in the Interaction of European and Asiatic Cultures (New York: Random House, 1949). Although the book is long out of print, copies are available on Amazon.com and in various library collections.

SOME SUGGESTED APPROACHES:

• Western advisors were employed by the Japanese government and private interests during the Meiji era in several important areas on the basis of their expertise with regard to specific aspects of European and/or American life and culture. William. S. Clark (from Amherst College), for example, was heavily involved in establishing an agricultural frontier development program on the northernmost island of Hokkaido; an Englishman, R. H. Brinton, was placed in charge of harbor modernization; Edward S. Morse founded the scholarly study of zoology, archaeology, anthropology and sociology; and Ernest Fenollosa introduced many Meiji era artists to Western painting techniques. One might describe and evaluate their contributions (immediate and longer lasting) as Western individuals to the acceleration of the modernization process taking place in Japan between 1868 and 1912.
• Several key Japanese individuals also contributed to fundamental changes taking place in specific arenas of Japanese life during the Meiji period. Ito Hirobumi (1841 – 1909) researched and implemented a new constitution and a set of new political institutions that were to remain in force until the end of World War II; Yamagata Aritomo (1838 – 1922) presided over the birth of Japan’s new and modernized military forces; Matsukata Masayoshi (1835 – 1924) helped establish the empire’s reconstituted financial institutions; and Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835 – 1901) helped introduce significant Western influences in education, culture and the popular press. Here again one might describe and evaluate their contributions (immediate and lasting) as individuals to the acceleration of the modernization process taking place in Japan between 1868 and 1912.
• Significant Western influences worthy of focused investigation and research were incorporated into specific Japanese institutions during the Meiji era from a variety of sources. One might examine, for example, changes introduced into government and politics, economic structures and institutions, education, everyday habits and customs, the arts and literature, the definition of social roles, or religious and philosophical thoughts and practices. In each case, analyze reasons behind Japanese interest in the Western institutions and practices involved, reasons for the choice of a particular model among those available from multiple Western sources, adaptations made to fit the Japanese cultural environment and the ultimate consequences (intended and unintended) resulting from this adaptation / adoption of Western influence.